Mentoring high school students in a perioperative setting

AORN Journal,  April, 2007  by Linda J. Timmons

• E-mail
• Print
• Link

The nationwide nursing shortage is not improving. In perioperative nursing, the shortage is even greater because perioperative clinical rotations generally are not a part of nursing school curricula, and as a result, many nursing students are never exposed to perioperative nursing as a career path. It is necessary, therefore, for nurses to find new ways to alleviate this shortage.

One way to address the perioperative nursing shortage is to expose students to this career possibility when they are still in high school. Many high school students are unaware of their education and employment options despite the availability of school guidance counselors who can provide career information. Counselors usually have only a general idea of career choices and may not know of specialized areas, such as perioperative nursing, within the broader category of nursing. According to Hader,

   Parents, teachers, and guidance
   counselors remain pivotal to influencing
   college-bound students to
   enter the nursing profession. It is
   imperative that these key players are
   aware of the many career opportunities
   within nursing. (1(p6))

High school guidance counselors should be made aware of the career choices available in the perioperative setting so they can speak intelligently about career opportunities within the profession. Nurses can facilitate this by inviting counselors into the perioperative area so they can see the roles that perioperative nurses perform.

EXPOSING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TO PERIOPERATIVE NURSING

When encouraging high school students to explore the perioperative environment, counselors would do well to keep in mind that the single most important career motivator is "being happy at work/liking your job." (2) According to a study conducted by Hemsley-Brown and Foskett, (3) 27.3% of the participating high school students indicated that they were not interested in nursing or they would not expect to enjoy being a nurse. This is not an unexpected result because students in this age group (ie, approximately 17 years old) say they are not interested in most careers unless they have chosen the career for themselves. (2)

Reasons students gave for their lack of interest in nursing included squeamishness and not wanting to deal with death. (3) Female high school students may not consider a nursing career because career choices for women have increased through the years, especially in the medical profession. For example, according to Robert Hinkley, associate dean of admission at the Miller Medical School at the University of Miami, Fla, more than 44% of the medical students in the university's 2006-2007 freshman class are women (February 2007). Among male high school students, boys at age 15 years expressed a fear of being called "gay" because they perceived nursing to be a woman's job. (3) This demonstrates an enormous need to have men speak for the profession to show that this stereotype is not true and to explain the rewards that they receive in the perioperative work environment.

To ensure a legacy of perioperative nursing, it is necessary for perioperative nurses to look beyond recruiting from nursing schools. Instead, they must plant the seed when potential perioperative nurses are in high school, identifying all the avenues in nursing available to students and hoping these ideas germinate. According to Trossman, "children should be able to participate in 'shadow programs' that allow young people to experience first-hand what it's like to work as a nurse." (4(p57)) Allowing children to spend time in the perioperative setting gives them an up-close view of the many roles that are integral to the delivery of health care. (2)

As a perioperative nurse who believed in this model, I took the opportunity four years ago to become a mentor to high school students through an Advanced Academic Internship Program in the Miami-Dade County Public School System, Miami, Fla. The educational specialist in charge of the internship program made a site visit to my facility, the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami. The educational specialist was very excited to have the perioperative setting available to students, especially for those who had an interest in either nursing or the medical field. In my role as director of surgical services, I would be able to help students gain professional experience and firsthand knowledge in this field during the program. Providing students with the opportunity to be in the perioperative environment would enable them to make educated decisions and clarify their perceptions about a career in this area.

THE INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

When students participate in the Advanced Academic Internship Program, it "enhances the students' academic portfolio, which in return may increase their competitive edge for college admission." (5(p19) The internship program is an elective course that can be taken for one or two annual credits depending on an individual student's schedule. Students may apply to participate during their junior year, their senior year, or both their junior and senior years. To qualify for the internship program, a student must have